Sheltered Turtle

Sheltered Turtle | Percussive fingerstyle guitar acrobatics
What makes for a memorable, meaningful live performance? Catering to the compassionate introvert in us all, Henry Nam, AKA "Sheltered Turtle" combines a dazzlingly exuberant display of musical acrobatics with humorously intimate storytelling that has and continues to wow, warm, and educate audiences internationally.

"Nam’s masterly and characterful approach to percussive fingerstyle on acoustic guitar is awe-inspiring. It is something you have to see with your eyes to believe with your ears. Nam uses the entire body and capability of his guitar to create layered harmonies, melodies and at times, Nam plays his guitar as if it were a piano, which I learned was his first instrument … reminded me of why I love music so much and is a performance I will never forget." -- Sara Lambeth, Da Belly Magazine

Sheltered Turtle is a percussive fingerstyle acoustic guitar solo act following in the footsteps of Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Don Ross, and Preston Reed. Born on a military base in the Republic of Korea, raised in San Francisco, Germany, and Washington DC, and currently based in Philadelphia, musician and autodidact Henry Nam (AKA Sheltered Turtle) is the product of an international, multicultural upbringing that manifests not only in his diverse musical styling but also in his attitudes about the role of the arts as a universal language able to help people of all backgrounds build meaningful connection and communicate constructively.

With two BandCamp Best-Selling acoustic albums under his belt, Sheltered Turtle is working on his third solo album set for a fall 2015 release. Additionally, he is composing music for short films, releasing an educational video series, and raising his Great Dane/Rottweiler puppy, Hiccup.

Nam has toured internationally and performed for audiences at such high-profile events as TEDx, the Kennedy Center, the NAMM, and the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards. His abilities and accomplishments have earned him sponsorships from Stonebridge Guitars, Voyage Air Guitars, Gator Cases, John Pearse Strings, MiniFlex Mics, The Engle Guitar Hammer, G7th Capos, and Roc-N-Soc as well as partnerships Tycoon Percussion and Anatolian Cymbals. He has shared the stage with diverse group of musicians as The Spinners (AKA Detroit Spinners or Motown Spinners), The Whispers (Vocal Group Hall of Fame, Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Pioneer Award), Andy Roberts (Pink Floyd), Woody Mann, R. Carlos Nakai (Library of Congress cultural heritage inductee), Brian Ganz (Peabody Conservatory), Steve Rushingwind (multi-award winning Native American flutist), Barry Louis Polisar (Grammy & Emmy Award winning songwriter & author), Trevor Gordon Hall, Nelson Rios (Santana, Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine, touring percussionist), Thomas Gibson (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes), William Reed (Edwin Starr), and many more.

"Sheltered Turtle’s music takes the full exploration of the guitar to the max. He has a great sense of warm chords and ties them in beautifully with his techniques and arrangements. Be sure to stop and take in a good, thorough listen!" -- Trevor Gordon Hall (CandyRat Records)